Borges and Me: An Encounter

This is a delightful, charming, and beautifully written book. It’s a tale about a road trip in Scotland, taken by a twenty-two year old, would-be poet Jay Parini (now, a prolific novelist, poet, and biographer, then a young man of parts, many of them uncultivated) and the endlessly erudite, eccentric, and brilliant writer, Jorge Luis Borges. In some ways a replay on Don Quixote and Sancho Panza’s adventures. Yet also a coming-of-age-story and a rumination about the mysteries and necessity of creation, of trading in Thoreau’s contention to “live deliberately” for Borges’ admonition, “There is only now . . . Act!” Anyone who has read Borges will cherish this personal account of him; anyone who has read Parini, will delight in his company. And if you have not encountered the work of either writer, this book will impel you in their direction.In Beyond Borges, Parini recounts other striking figures, Alastair Reid (a brilliant poet, at once arrogant and generous), George Mackay Brown (a poet who embraced solitude), and two fascinating young women (real names not revealed). And, lest I forget, Reid’s utterly precocious son, Jasper, who has grown up to be a distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of London (no surprise). Now I need to reread Borges.

The first thing to know is Borges doesn’t arrive until pg 78, and he’s gone by pg 211, but for an encore in the final pages. So I felt there was more “and Me” than I wanted to have paid for. I didn’t find his draft dodging and trying to get laid remotely interesting, and that was before I learned, in the afterword, that two characters are actually (and mercifully) composites.In addition, I am ambivalent about reading substantial dialogues in which Borges’s supposed words 50 years ago are placed in quotations as if the author remembered them word for word, which I think is impossible. Obviously the book would not read well or even exist without artistic license in this regard. But then, when I come across a clever epigram of Borges (such as “One must never fight old battles again. The losses only mount.”), how can I be sure he really said that, or did the author formulate it sometime in the intervening 50 years but decide it would have a better chance of finding its way into Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations if he attributed it to Borges?In Spain and Latin America, one often comes across novels and auto-fictions that are 80 - 120 pages long. That, to me, is about the ideal length of this book, although I admit it would be unusual in the US market.It has entertaining anecdotes and is pleasant enough to read. I’m not unhappy I bought it but neither can I muster full enthusiasm for a book that is only half about Borges

I’ve been reading Borges’ works recently and wanted to know more about him. I did my usual, loaded up on biographies and anything mentioning the author. I purchased a copy of “Borges and Me” by Jay Parini (I had never read anything by this author before; that will change). This book was so enjoyable that I read it nearly straight through. I began one evening, then picked it up the next day and didn’t put it down until I was finished. I now have a good sense of Borges, the human being. I swore I wouldn’t purchase any more books until I made more progress on the books I currently own. But now, on my wish list, are other books by Jay Parini. I think I’ll begin with his poetry (oops, just ordered another book). The author brought me with him on this memorable journey. I loved all the sensitive and at times earthy descriptions, enjoyed hearing his thoughts, had fun laughing with him, everything. LOVED it.

Two writers heavily influenced the “Latin American Boom” of the 1950s-1970s, when the literature of magic realism burst upon the literary world. One was William Faulkner. The other writer was the Argentine Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), the poet, short story writer, essayist, and general literary genre-bender. One of Borges’ best-known works is a one-page short story, or perhaps an essay, entitled “Borges and I.” He explores his own identity as a writer and a person, seeing them as separate entities. And he wonders which one wrote the story.In 1970, Jay Parini was an American graduate student at the university of St. Andrews. He was befriended by poet and writer Alastair Reid, who had translated some of Borges’ poetry. And Borges was coming to spend time with Reid in Scotland. Except Reid’s uncle in London was seriously ill, and Reid had to leave. He left Borges in the hands of Parini, who was simultaneously beginning research on the writer Gordon Mackay Brown, writing his own poetry, hoping that a fellow student named Bella would like him as much as he liked her, and avoiding a succession of letters from his draft board back in Pennsylvania.Parini thinks he will be spending a week at Reid’s house, trying to keep Borges entertained. Instead, when he arrives, Borges informs him that, since Parini has a car, they are going on a tour of the Scottish Highlands so he can visit a friend in Inverness. And off they go, in an automobile so ramshackle that Borges names it Rozinante after Don Quixote’s horse and tries to convince Parini that he is really Sancho Panza. When that fails, he consistently calls Parini “Guiseppe,” after the 18th century Italian poet.What was supposed to be a housebound author-sitting job turned into a road trip. Borges and Me is the account of what happened 50 years ago. It’s also something of a play on the story by Borges, and for good reason. Parini quickly learns he has to work very hard indeed to separate his own identity from that of his guest and fellow traveler. And half a century later, he’s not sure if he succeeded or not.Parini wasn’t only a tour guide. He was also Borges’ eyes, because the author was blind. Borges will experience the Scottish Highlands like he experienced literature, through the eyes and voice of others, and mostly through “Giuseppe’s.” It’s a fascinating and delightful story. Borges forgets he’s blind and tends to make large expansive gestures and moves, once tumbling down a hillside and then nearly drowning himself and Parini in Loch Ness. He also has a tendency to relieve his bladder whenever he needs to, preferably by the front left tire of Parini’s car.The heart of Borges and Me is the discussions the two men, one young and one old, have on literature, love, unrequired love, other authors, food, war, loss, and more. When Parini hears of a friend’s death in Vietnam, Borges will comfort him in one of the most touching scenes in the book.Parini is the author of six collections of poetry, eight novels, five biographies (John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, Robert Frost, Gore Vidal, and Jesus), and five works of non-fiction. A graduate of Lafayette College and the University of St. Andrews (yes, he did receive his Ph.D. in 1975 but not for work on Gordon Mackay Brown), he’s received numerous fellowships, honorary degrees, and literary awards. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages. He lives in Vermont, where he serves on the faculty of Middlebury College.“Borges and Me” makes very clear the man’s originality as an author, a character, and a conversationalist. What a delight of a road trip that must have been.

I have never read any Borges, and neither had the author, when he was persuaded to guide the blind Borges on a tour of the Scottish highlands. A product of that trip, recounted with all the benefits of hindsight, is by turns hilarious, poetic, moving . Hugely entertaining as well as informative.